


Testing the waters

by justholdinghands



Category: The X-Files RPF
Genre: Backstage, Concerts, F/M, Gillovny, Love, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 09:48:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5286068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justholdinghands/pseuds/justholdinghands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened before, during and after the concert in New-York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Testing the waters

**Author's Note:**

> There is a lot of interpretation, and a few trials of mouth reading. Please, be gentle in your comments, because I had to watch the concert WITH THE SOUND several times, and I deserve a medal for this ! :)
> 
> I'm kidding, I love every comments, good or bad.

Sitting side by side, they had ended up in a small, discreet and nice bar near David’s apartment, with Chris, some friends and co-workers after the Upfront. After a couple drinks for her, and more than double for him, they couldn’t take their hands off of each other, and it was quite obvious, even disturbing for everyone here. Her head was constantly on his shoulder, his hands around her waist or on her thighs, and no need to talk about what was going on under the table.

“Wanna leave?” he whispered in her ear, and she nodded with a grin. “Guys, Gillian is tired and so am I. I’ll get her a ride back to her hotel. I hope I’ll see all of you tomorrow night?”

Everyone nodded and congratulated them before they left the bar, arm in arm.

David had lied about driving her back to her hotel. Actually, there was no hotel. She had left her belongings at David’s apartment earlier, just like she was used to do every time she came to New-York since the last few years. About two years ago, they’d decided to make a real commitment on their relationship, and tried to give each other a real chance. It worked pretty well, even if the distance and miss didn’t make things easy for them. In the first few months, they’d decided to keep it secret, just to see how it went. Eventually, they told their kids, ex-spouse and partner and of course their PR, just in case. It wasn’t easy, especially with Tea, who had always been suspicious – for good reasons – with Gillian, but now everything was better and they’d found a certain balance. The next step should have been to tell their friends and the people they worked with, but both of them had procrastinated it for two years, and the simple idea of going public scared them half to death. This was the reason why David called a cab to drive them home, which was only two blocks away from where they were.

As soon as she closed the car door, his tongue was in her mouth and his hand inside her thighs. He liked to think about himself as a grown man who can’t make out in the back seat anymore, but a couple drinks and Gillian in a hot dress could change a man. She didn’t complained, but opened her eyes to look quickly in the rear-view mirror, where she met the driver’s angry look. So she broke the kiss and pushed him away, gently.

“I’ve wanted to do that since five fucking hours!” He chuckled, leaning his head to kiss her again and this time she let him.

Luckily, the journey wasn’t long, and after five minutes, the driver stopped in front of David’s building. He had to clear his throat to make them realize they’d arrived. His hand went out from under her dress to reach his pocket, and give the driver a lot much more money than he asked for.

 

“Last drink?” he asked, heading for the kitchen as she sat on the leather couch.

He came back with two beers, gave one to her and clinked.

“To us!” He kissed her chastely on the lips and they took a sip together. “Gillian?”

“Oh god. What?” she asked, worried.

He was standing still in front of her, quiet drunk, and his face was as serious as he could in this situation. She knew him, and something really weird or inappropriate or silly would come out of his mouth in a second.

“I have a proposal to make.” He stated.

Her face flushed immediately and she needed to stick the cold beer on her cheeks to get refreshed. What kind of proposal? Not THE proposal! She hoped. She wasn’t ready, neither was he. They never talked about it, they didn’t live in the same continent, they were too old for this… Stop. She had to stop thinking and say something.

“David, you’re drunk. Why don’t you just sit next to me and shut your mouth?”

“First of all, I’m not THAT drunk.” The tone of his voice proved otherwise. “Second of all, I’m good where I am. Third of all, I have a proposal to make.”

“Jesus…” she whispered, almost to herself, and took a very long sip of her beer.

“Let Jesus out of this business, woman. Are you ready?”

“Absolutely not.” She sighed, sitting back on the couch and staring at him, more worried than ever.

“Never mind. Gillian Leigh Anderson, would you like to come sing with me on stage tomorrow night?”

She wasn’t expected that sort of proposal. Actually, now he had made it, she would have preferred a marriage proposal. Marriage is easy. He asks, you say yes, you get a nice ring, you buy a dress and you go back to your life. But sing? In public? With a mike? She would probably die from a heart attack before her foot touch the stage.

“What? No, No way! I can’t sing, it’ll be embarrassing for both of us.”

“Please?” He begged, kneeling at her feet.

“David, get up! I’m not gonna sing. No fucking way!”

“C’mon! It’ll be fun. I want to do a duet with the woman of my life. Come on!” he begged again, pouting, still at her feet.

“Oh, you’re not gonna have me by feelings, Duchovny. I don’t sing. Period. Now get up and take off your shirt.” She screamed, trying to lift him by his armpits, in vain. God, this man was heavy.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Even if I am a really good boy tonight?” he asked, kissing her knees and rubbing her calf.

“You can’t buy me with sex.”

“Are you sure about that?”

His head disappeared between her thighs, under her dress and suddenly, her panties were at her feet. How did he do that? She didn’t even remember lifting herself. Did she?

“Yeah. I’m sure,” she sighed.

He teased her, kissing and biting the inside of her thighs, brushing his nose against her folds, squeezing her buttocks with his hands. He heard her moaned in frustration, even under the fabric of her dress, and the smell of her arousal and the wetness on the tip of his nose told him she needed more. He leaned his head and licked her up from her entrance, searching for her clit in the darkness. When he finally found it, he heard her moan again, louder, and felt two hands squeeze his shoulders. After a few flips, his tongue left her clit to go back to her entrance. He licked around slowly, shaping a circle, then entered her to gather her juices and spread them on her clit again. And he did it again, faster and stronger each time, fucking her with his tongue and licking her clit frantically. Hearing her panting and moaning, she was close. Really close. So he kissed the inside of her thighs and his head reappeared from under her dress, looking at her.

“Fuck, David! Why did you stop?”

“Did you change your mind?” he asked, biting the flesh of her thigh.

“What? No!” God, she couldn’t focus right now. She was about to come and all she wanted was to do so. She needed to. “Please, David” Oh great, now she was the one who begged. Damn him.

“Just a little song and I’ll make you come so strong that you couldn’t see straight.”

His words went right to her center. She needed to be touched, licked, or bitten. Anything but nothing.

“David, please just…” he looked at her with a grin, kissing and biting her legs, torturing her. “Okay, yes, fine. I’ll sing. Now, please!”

She pushed on his head before seeing or hearing any of his reaction to her approval, and soon, his tongue was back on her and she sighed of relieved. She closed her eyes and moved her pelvis a little to give him a better access. Suddenly, she felt two fingers inside her and she cried out as a third one entered. His tongue rubbed her clit at the same rhythm as his fingers fucked her, faster and faster. He curled his fingers inside, and he felt her walls squeezing and swelling around him, as her hands pulled his hair. He wasn’t kidding earlier. Her climax was so strong she couldn’t see or hear anything, even her own scream who might have been very loud because when her vision went back to her, she saw his face smiling before her, waiting for a kiss. So she leaned and kissed him, tasting herself on his tongue.

“God, that was…”

“Nice?”

“Yeah. Nice.” She smiled and kissed him again, her tongue exploring his mouth, her teeth biting his bottom lip, as he sat on the couch and lifted her into his lap. Her legs stayed on each side of him and she broke for air.

“What am I gonna sing, though?”

“What about Whitney Houston, I will always love you? Or maybe Celine Dion…” he joked and stopped when she slapped his arm gently. “Okay, we’ll figure out tomorrow with the band. We’ll find something easier. Thanks for saying yes. It means a lot to me, you know.”

She smiled and kissed him again while her hand travelled through his shirt, caressing his abs and his chest, feeling his muscles tensed at her contact. His skin was soft and warm, such as his tongue in her mouth. He reached for the zipper in the back of her dress and undid it to put the dress down around her waist. The black lacy bra she was wearing was thrown on the floor, and his tongue left her mouth to travel down on her, from her jawline, to her throat and her breasts. She tossed back her head and closed her eyes to connect with the sensation of his mouth over her nipples, making them grow harder between his teeth. She always had very sensitive nipples, and he was definitely a breast man. One time, he made her come, just with his mouth over her nipples. He gave the same attention to each one, nibbling, licking, sucking and kissing, and went back to her mouth. Her hips began to move over him, while he cupped her buttocks firmly to make her come closer and started to thrust slowly, brushing her wetness with his erection through the material of his jeans. His shirt joined her bra on the floor and her hands travelled from his chest to his buckle, to undo it and his zipper. Still kissing him, she slide her hand under his boxers to free his cock and stroked him slowly. He grumbled in her mouth when she used her thumb to rub his head, and his hands squeezed her ass more firmly under her dress. She broke the kiss and opened her eyes to look at him, letting her eyes travelling to his mouth to her hand around his cock.

“You like what you see?” he gasped.

She nodded in silence and maneuvered his boxers to put it under his testicles, and slide on him in one slow stroke. They moaned and groaned in unison as she started to ride him, her hands on his chest for leverage. He licked her throat and wedged his nose on the soft spot between her breasts, licking and kissing the flesh he found here. Her fingers ran into his hair, putting his head closer to her, burying his head on her chest, her breasts caressing his cheeks with each stroke. She sped up and her hips curled in a way she knew it drive him crazy. It worked. He tossed his head back and started to thrust her back, following her rhythm.

“More.” She moaned, looking right into his eyes.

“What do you want? Tell me.” He gasped.

She took his hands, stood up, and sat on the coffee table, putting the two beers on the floor. He followed her, removing her dress which had fallen at her feet, and he kneeled before her.

“I want you to fuck me, David.”

He helped her lay on the table and spread her legs wider. She shivered at the sensation of the coldness in her back, contrasting with the warmth of her skin.

“God, you’re gorgeous!” he said, adjusting his height while rubbing her folds with his palm.

He used his other hand to stroke himself, before pushing into her without any resistance.

“You feel so good!” she moaned, closing her eyes and clenching the table with her hands.

He held her hips and thrusted faster and harder. With this angle, he hit her cervix each time, making her scream continuously. She freed one of her hands from the table to rub her breasts, pinching her nipples. This sight put him on the edge and his thrusts became feral. He used his thumb over her clit, pushing on it, rubbing it frantically and sped up. Soon, her moans and screams were ceaseless. Her back arched, her walls squeezed him, and she climaxed around him in a throaty heavy scream. Five more hard thrusts and he emptied himself inside her, screaming her name with a hoarse voice.

He leaned over her to kiss her mouth, panting and gasping. Her makeup had flowed a little bit, her cheeks were flushed and she tasted salty. He couldn’t love her more than in this moment. She was beautiful. He broke the kiss and smiled at her, finally slipping off of her.

“How do you feel?” he asked, kissing her cheeks.

“Good. Boneless. Helpless.” She gasped.

“That’s a good song!”

                                                

 

 

*****

 

She woke up early, still a bit jetlagged. After a quick stop in the bathroom, she changed into sweat pants and a grey shirt, and head for the front door. With no makeup, messy hair and sunglasses on, she knew no one could recognize her and she could run without being bothered by fans or paparazzi’s. She headed for Central Park, running slowly first, and eventually, she found her usual rhythm. She was not really used to jog, but she loved to do it every time she came here. Jogging in Central Park had something magic. Furthermore, it helped her to relax and focus on positive thoughts. This morning, she felt a little bit overwhelmed. She had promised to sing with him tonight, and it would be a first time. She never sang. Not even under the shower, nor for her kids. She just couldn’t sing. But it seemed to be important to him. Singing was new for him too, and he wanted to share it with her. They loved each other now, even if they didn’t vocalize it very often, she knew she had to do it. For him. Ridicule never killed anyone, otherwise, she would have been dead long since.

After 45 minutes of jogging, she was back to his apartment, happy and impatient to do it.

 

David was still asleep so she took a quick shower before heading to the kitchen. For two years now, she had made herself home in his apartment. Each time she came, she’d left more and more stuff. She helped him to decorate, giving a feminine touch. Maybe a little bit too much for his taste, but even if he’d never admit it, he actually liked it. She easily found the utensils she needed to make scrambled eggs, pancakes and coffee.

“Hey, sexy and not desperate housewife!” he teased, with a sleepy voice, kissing the back of her neck.

“Hey yourself. Hope you’re hungry.”

“I’m starving” he whispered, biting her neck and cupping her breasts from behind.

“I was talking about food, David,” she smiled, and got away from him, as he hummed in disappointment.

He set two plates on the counter bar and filled the mugs with the fresh coffee she had made. She served the eggs and pancakes and sat next to him.

“Do you have any plans for today?” he asked, chewing.

“Well, I have a meeting and an interview. And apparently, I’ll become a rock star tonight, so I’m busy. What about you?”

“As I’m already a rock star, I have nothing to do until this afternoon. I’ll probably go back to bed after breakfast, so feel free to join.” He grinned, kissing her shoulder.

“Hum, this is tempting. But I really have to go. I’m already late actually.” She said, leaving the table and her half-finished plate. “You text me the address for tonight?”

“Okay.” He sighed, disappointed and eating the food she’d left in her plate. “Be ready around 5pm. We need to rehearse, and you’ll need to warm your voice.”

She disappeared into the bedroom, and reappeared ten minutes later, changed into a silk blouse and a pair of jeans. She went back to the kitchen and kissed him chastely while he was doing the dishes.

“See you,” she said quickly before he held her wrist to stop her.

“Hey, I love you.”

She kissed him again, tenderly.

“I love you too,” she whispered. “You, rock star”, slapping his ass before leaving.

 

 

*****

 

 

The rehearsal had begun an hour ago, before she showed up. First, David wanted to make the surprise to his band, but then, he’d remembered that some of them were fan of The X-Files, and he was scared of their reaction. So he’d told them, and as he’d expected, they were really excited to meet her. He had told them anything personal, just that she was in town, and he’d invited her to sing a song with him as a guest.

She arrived by the front door and walked to the stage where David was singing. He didn’t notice her, so she just sat on a chair, and looked at him. She had already heard him sing, but this was something else. His energy filled the empty room and she got chills. She couldn’t believe that the man who was singing on this stage in front her, was hers. He was hot as hell in his sweaty white T-shirt, the muscles of his arms tensed when he reached the mike, his eyes closed when he had to push on his voice. Suddenly, she felt like a teenage groupie at her first concert. She smiled to herself and headed for the stage, clapping her hands when he’d finished the song.

He skillfully jumped off the stage to hug her and kissed her on the cheek.

“I’m so happy you came.” He whispered, so no one else could hear.

She smiled and rubbed his back before he got back on the stage, helping her to come up.

“Guys, this is Gillian. Gillian, this is the band.”

He introduced her to every member of his band, and she hugged them and shook their hands. She was quite nervous. This was becoming real and she was really worried about how doing this without embarrassing him or his musicians.

“So, I know you’re not very comfortable with singing, so I and the band thought it could be great if we sing “Helpless” together. I used to sing that song before, so I’ll do the heavy job while you sing the chorus. There’s only one word, you think you’ll be okay?”

“Oh, okay. That sounds great!” she said, relieved and grateful.

She was afraid that he wanted her to sing a real duet with verse and lyrics to learn. But that was not the point, and she was realizing it now. All he wanted to was share a moment with her. He had made a shift in his career, fulfilled a child’s dream and he wanted her to be part of that, with no pressure, just for fun. This was going to be their moment, outside of what they used to do together.

“You’re ready?”

“What? Now?”

“Why not? Put your bag there and grab a mike.” He said, very excited to do this.

She took a deep breath and followed his instructions. They gaze at each other for a fraction and a spark passed through them as the music started.

 

They sang off hey during the whole song, and after two other trials, they gave up, and agreed that it didn’t matter. After the song rehearsal, Brad, David’s producer, proposed a little direction for her to show up. The musicians will play the X-Files theme and she’ll meet him on stage after hearing the six notes. They rehearsed the whole thing, plus the song one last time. At the very last note, he leaned his head to kiss her lips, reflexively. She kissed him back, before realizing that they were not alone and everyone was looking at them, eyes wide opened.

She left the stage and headed for the green room, hearing David rehearse his other songs. He joined her later, as she was talking to Brad, who left her as he saw him approaching.

“Not too nervous?” he asked, kissing her shoulder.

“I’m terrified, but I’ll be all be alright.” She smiled.

“Come with me.” He said, taking her hand and heading for a private room.

She sat on a large couch, and he gave her a glass of fresh water before sitting next to her.

“I want to kiss you.” He stated.

“Since when do you ask?” she said, leaning her head to him.

“No, I mean, on stage. I want to kiss you on stage.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, frowning her eyebrows.

“Listen, there will be fans everywhere and they’re going to lose their shit when you’ll show up. I thought it could be a good way for us to… you know… test the water and see how it goes.”

“You wanna go public? Tonight?” she screamed, amazed.

“I’m not talking about saying out loud: this is Gillian Anderson, the woman I love, and put my tongue in your throat. I’m just saying that we could try and see how people react. What do you think?”

She thought for a while and remained silent. Their relationship lasted since two years, they would spend three months together this summer, and it would be harder to hide their feelings. She’d always known that one time, they’d had to do this, and maybe it was the best way. They couldn’t just make their couple official in a random tabloid or on a social media. There was no way to do it properly, and maybe tonight was the best. And if something went wrong, they had an exit door and they’d just had to back-pedal.

“Okay, but I’ll do it. When I come up, I’ll kiss you. I just want to have the possibility of changing my mind.” She said, honestly.

He nodded and kissed her, his hand circling her shoulder. She deepened the kiss, before breaking it.

“If you kiss me like that, I’ll kill you!” she joked before kissing him again. “You know, you were hot up there,” she teased, her voice becoming suave.

“You liked it?”

She nodded, grinning as he left the couch, gazing at her. He headed for the door and locked it. Then he turned to face her, and walked slowly towards her, lifting his shirt and balancing his hips awkwardly.

“Want me to dance for you, babe?”

She chuckled and nodded, sitting back on the couch, and crossing her arms. He kept walking towards her really slowly, and threw his shirt above his head, revealing his bare and sweaty stomach. She couldn’t help laughing to this improvised and clumsy lap dance. There was no music, but he tried to follow his own rhythm, probably listening to a Barry White’ song in his head. He leaned before her, and held her hand to make her caress his torso from his chest to his groin, and tossed back before she could go any further.

“Oh my god, did you check if there were a CCTV in there,” she giggled and sat back again, staring at him.

He looked around, worried for a second and shook his head, looking at his groin and then at her with a grin. He began to unbutton his jeans, slowly, button after button, thrusting in the space. With anyone else, she would have found this little show ridiculous and embarrassing, but with him, it was funny and sexy. He didn’t take himself very seriously and he had obvious troubles to kick off his shoes. He almost fell, laughing at himself, but caught her knee for support and finally took off his shoes. Everybody outside could probably hear her laugh, but it was better than hearing her moan, she thought. He stepped back a little, and lowered his pants, just to let appear his pubic hair and the base of his cock, then, he lifted it back to his waist. Awkwardly, she was getting really turned on, her nipples peaking through the soft fabric of her blouse. She thought about taking her phone and film what was happening, because it probably won’t happen again, but her purse was too far away, and she wouldn’t miss anything. He turned over and lowered his jeans a little bit, revealing the waistband of his boxers. He reached her hands from behind, so she could help him to remove his pants completely, caressing his ass on the way, just enough to make him grow harder. She was not really laughing anymore, and refrained herself to bite on his buttocks. He turned over again, quickly, and put her hands and his chest, down to his belly and gaze at her before guiding her hands over his shaft. He wanted to guide her more, but she took the control over him, and started to stroke through his underwear, making him grow harder. She smiled at him and freed his demanding cock. Two more strokes and she took him in her mouth, making him grunt. He leaned on the wall with one hand, the other one on the back of her head, one foot on the couch, as she pressed on his ass to take him closer. He was really hard in her mouth now, and he couldn’t help thrusting slowly. She released him to suckle his balls and lick him from the base to the head, twirling her tongue on her way.

“Oh god, do that again.” He begged, and she twirled her tongue on his head, then licked down to his balls, and up again. “God, Gillian.” He moaned.

She took him back in her mouth, as deep as possible, sucking him hard, and he grunted loudly in frustration when she released him. Everyone outside had probably noticed that her previous giggle had been replaced by another kind of noises, but she was driving him crazy and the whole world could crumble around them, he wouldn’t care at all. Her tongue was back on his head, as she stroked him hard while massaging his balls, and she took him back in her mouth. Her cheeks became concave as she sucked him harder and faster. He tried not to thrust too hard, but it became harder to hold back and he was pulling her hair and scratching the wall. She looked at him and he felt her smile around his cock, her way to let him know she was okay, and he could let go. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the delicious sensation, as she sucked him faster and harder, especially on his head. He pulled her head towards him and exploded in her mouth with a loud throaty grunt. He kept her close to him, waiting for his spasms of pleasure to stop, and he finally released the pressure on her head, and crashed down on the couch next to her, his jelly legs couldn’t support him any longer. She bit his ear lobe, his jawline and finally his lips, caressing his chest gently, and she giggled when she saw him powerless, resting his head on her shoulder, eyes closed, his boxers at his feet and his socks on.

“Oh my god, I’ve killed the rock star!” she chuckled, quite proud of herself. “I’m sure Mick Jagger didn’t collapse after he got a blowjob backstage before a show. Get up, music-man!”

“David, I know you’re busy, but you gotta show up. People are waiting for you.” Brad yelled behind the door.

 

*****

 

After a quick shower, a few autographs and hands shaking with the fans, he got up on stage. During the first two songs, he had a hard time to focus because all he could think about was her and he couldn’t help wondering if she would change her mind. He really wanted to try, he was tired to hide. They were both single, they didn’t do anything wrong anymore and above all, he loved her. He had always been a very private man. He hated finding himself on the tabloids, paparazzi’s exposing his private life, even his kids. But he wanted to do this for her. She deserved a real and obvious relationship. He didn’t want her to lie every time someone asked her if she was single. The next move was hers now, and he was more stressed about that, than the fact of being on stage.

At the end of the concert, he left the stage, making the crowd cry out, and found her back, backstage. She had got changed into a stunning black dress and she looked over stressed. He walked towards her, sweaty and obviously shoot up with adrenaline. He took a sip of a beer and hugged her, without saying a word to reassure her, and finally, the six famous notes rang. They nodded to each other, communicating by telepathy, and he went back on stage, doing the little scene they had made up earlier. The crowd literally ignited when she showed up. She walked towards him, unsecure, and finally kissed him on the lips. A childish smile appeared on his face and he felt relieved. She hadn’t changed her mind, she was decided to do that with him, to be here for him. All the tension and the stress vanished in a fraction. They had kissed in public before, but this one particular kiss was meaningful for the both of them. As soon as it was done, they lowered their guards and began to really enjoy this moment with one another. He tried to focus on the song and not on how hot she looked in her dress.

The same feeling than during the rehearsals invaded her. She found him hot, smiling in his sweaty black shirt. He wasn’t really a smiling person, even with her. Because she knew him, she always could tell when he was happy or angry, but usually, it was hard for anyone else to guess his feelings. At this moment, she could tell he was beyond happiness, smiling like a child in Christmas morning. She was her gift, the one he had wanted for so long, and he wanted to unwrap her right here, and show how gorgeous she was to everyone. Actually, he couldn’t help pulling on the string of her dress like one could pull on a ribbon gift, pretending to undress her, and thinking that he will definitely do it for real later. But first things first, they had to sing.

She looked at everything but him, scared to look like someone who only wanted to jump his bones, but he looked at her when he first sang the meaningful lyrics “Big birds flying across the sky”. At that particular moment, she knew they had made the right decision. She was in love with him, and he loved her so much that he was ready to tell the world. They used to be two big birds continually flying above oceans, but now, she wanted them to be just a regular couple, walking hand in hand in the streets, going to regular restaurants and having fun without hiding. Lost in her thoughts, she almost forgot to sing, but she focused and did it, more off key than possible, but he didn’t care. He was proud of her, proud of them for making this big step. He would have kissed her again if they weren’t in the middle of a song, so he held his fist and she responded to him. They were a team now, partners in life as in the stage.

He started to dance awkwardly, gazing at her, and she chuckled, thinking about what he did earlier in the green room, and she followed him, balancing her hips on the rhythm. They were really enjoying themselves, having fun together like they too rarely did in their lives. Obviously, he had noticed how out of tune she sanf, and he couldn’t help making a joke and trying to scare her:

“You sing the next verse on your own.” He whispered in her ear. They laughed together, him proud of his joke, and her hoping that it was really a joke. “Do it, do it” he mouthed, back on his own mike, pretending to encourage her, but she looked away like a bad student who wants to avoid his teacher look during a test. “I’ll do it” he whispered in her ear again, to reassure her, and they nodded, seeming to say that it would be better.

They hardly sang the rest of the song and as soon as the last note ended, he leaned to kiss her again. He wasn’t supposed to do it, but he did spontaneously. This moment had meant a lot to him and he wanted her to know so. He wanted to thank her for didn’t change her mind, and he felt like it was the best way to do it. They were a regular couple now, kissing in public like everyone else, no big deal.

“I’m really really sorry for Neil Young” she whispered in his ear.

“What?” he answered. The crowd was screaming and even if she couldn’t be closer to him, he barely heard her.

“Never mind, I’ll never sing again in my life!”

“You didn’t do one single good note, and I love you for that.” He whispered, making her laugh. “I’d like to tell you a lot of things, but everyone’s looking at my lips moving right now, so I’m just gonna go with: thank you.”

She smiled at him and left the stage, and he took a discreet deep breath before continuing the show.

 

When he left the stage before the last encore, he found her backstage, talking to Madeleine Martin. He hugged Madeleine and kissed Gillian, and asked the both of them to come up on stage one last time with him. Gillian accepted right away, thrilled by the earlier experience, but she told him that there was no way she would sing again. He laughed and found a tambourine on a chair.

“Do you need me to teach you how it works, or you’ll be fine?” he joked and she slapped his arm, gently.

He got up on stage with her, making the crowd scream one more time, but when he realized that Madeleine hadn’t followed them, he went back behind the stage to find her, leaving Gillian alone for a short a moment. She noted for herself to kill him later for that, but he went back quickly and started an awkward trial of beatboxing. She wasn’t expecting that at all from him, so she raised her eyebrows, smiling. She started to play the tambourine, looking at Maddy and encouraging her to show up. He sang, and the two ladies enjoyed themselves, dancing and playing tambourine. She was so good at this that she thought for a second about a retraining. She could follow him on tour, playing tambourine every time he needed and dance for him. He gazed at her several times, happy to see her having fun. He could get used to this happiness.

 

*****

 

“Hey little tambourine girl! Where are you going?” he asked, seeing her looking for him.

He held her hand, pulling her toward him in a corner and kissed her.

“I was looking for you. I’m leaving, I’m exhausted. I’ll see you home, okay?” she said, caressing his sweaty back through the material of his shirt.

He nodded and kissed her again.

“I won’t be long, we’re gonna drink a couple beers and I’ll go home.” He said, holding her tight. “Thank you for everything, babe. You were awesome, I love you.”

“I love you too, rock star.”

She kissed him, capturing his lips between hers, and stopped herself before it began too awkward for the people around them.

She thanked Brad, the musicians and Madeleine and she left, winking at him.

 

*****

 

Thrilled by the moment he’d just lived, he pushed the door of his apartment. All the lights were off, there was no sign of life, so she would be deeply asleep. He headed directly for the shower, throwing all of his clothes in the laundry basket, and went out 15 minutes later. As quiet as possible, he pushed the door of his bedroom and found her laying on her side, in just a tight tank top, with a strap falling on her arm. Wearing just a pair of boxers, he crawled next to her. He didn’t want to wake her up, but the mattress sank under his weight, and she opened her eyes, moaning softly. 

“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“S’okay.” She whispered, half asleep, and closed the space between them, cuddling with him. “Did you have a good time?”

“It was the best night of my life, babe.” He whispered, taking her in his arm and kissing her forehead. “How about you?”

“It was fun. Now, I know that I really can’t sing at all, but I’ve discovered a new passion for tambourine.”

“Yeah, you were good with that. I’ll buy you one for your birthday!” he joked.

They lay still for a moment, in each others arms. It had been a very intense night, and they both needed a bit of silence and tenderness. He nuzzled her hair, and she drew circles in his back. He rubbed her ribs, and her foot caressed his calf. He felt her falling asleep again, but he needed to talk about what happened before, so he broke the silence.

“Do you think we did the right thing?”

“You doubt it?” she asked, tossing her head back to look at him.

“No, no… I don’t know. I feel like I wasn’t conscious during the whole show. I can’t even tell you how people had reacted. I think my mind had left my body, this is weird.”

“You do too much meditation Duchovny!” she joked, caressing his back for reassurance. “It’ll be fine. People were thrilled and so was I. We needed this. I’m glad we’ve made that step.” She said, and kissed him chastely on the lips.

“Okay. Hope you’re right. Go back to sleep, babe.”

“I love you.” She whispered, turning on her other side as he could spoon her.

“Me too”

 

*****

 

Her brain started to process early in the morning, but her eyes were still closed. Unconsciously, her hand was caressing the familiar soft skin she found next to her, but she opened her eyes when she realized that she wasn’t touching his torso like what she thought, but his thighs. He was sitting against the wall, his laptop above the covers with an indescribable look on his face.

“What are you doing?” she moaned, stretching her body, and trying to look at the screen.

“We’re making the headlines.” He stated, not looking at her.

“What are you talking about? It’s not even 9.” She said, raising to sit next to him.

“Look, it’s everywhere!” he exclaimed, almost yelling at her.

He showed her all the articles he could find. There were pages and pages, without forgetting their Twitter accounts that had literally exploded. David’s PR had tried to call him a hundred time, but he hadn’t picked up yet. He hadn’t had the strength.

“Okay, calm down. We knew something like that would happen. Maybe not that much, but we knew it would happen…”

“They are so many bullshits in here. They say we’ve done this to promote the reboot. I don’t even know what a fucking reboot is!” Now, he was really yelling.

“David, please calm down.”

“How could I? Oh, I can show you what’s on Twitter if you want. Apparently, we are married and your kids are mine. Your phone is ringing.”

“No, it’s yours.” She said, holding his phone to him.

“Jesus, it’s Tea. I got to…”

“Yeah, sure.” She interrupted.

He left the room for some privacy and she took his computer, reading the articles. Apparently, everyone agreed to say that she was a bad singer, but that wasn’t new. A lot of them were just factual, but some were really inappropriate. Tea was mentioned in a lot of them, as much as his so-called sex addiction. She checked her Twitter account shyly, so she could see by herself that he was right, people were losing their shit, and lines were crossed. She wasn’t expected that at all. In her mind, there would have been some articles about them singing and kissing. They could have done a couple interviews to acknowledge, to say that after all those years of friendship, they were both single and it had to happen at some point. It wouldn’t have been the real truth, but no one had to know it. Now, she had the feeling that if they publicly acknowledge their relationship, press would dig deeper, and it would be really dangerous. She was scared that they found the real truth. If they started to interview her ex-husbands, or co-workers, someone could talk too much for money. They always had been quite discreet, but they had a long story together, and there were a lot of people informed of their ‘relationship’ over the years. They both had kids to protect. He didn’t need another sexual scandal. He was in good term with Tea, and she knew how important it was to him. It could break their career. She could become the deceived wife for the rest of her life, and she would be the bitch who had slept with a married man, being married herself. Of course, it wasn’t that. Of course, there were strong feelings involved. But dirty press was dirty press, and there was nothing to do with it. Maybe they had been too naive or careless.

David went back, and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at her sadly.

“What did she say?”

“She wants me to, quote: fix this fucking mess, or she’ll fucking kill the both of us. She had had a dozen of interview requests this morning. They want to know since when we are together, if I’d cheated on her when we were married, if we’d divorced because of you, I could carry on, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I am… I’m sorry Gil, I really wanted to do it, but…”

“I know. I know, sweetie.” She interrupted, looking at him sadly. “Deny everything, though?”

He nodded.

“I don’t want this to change anything between us, babe. I still love you. I really do.” He said, taking her hand. “Maybe we can try again later, we’ll find something more… subtle.”

“Yeah, we’ll figure out something. I didn’t even look at my phone, but my PR is probably gonna kill me, so, I guess it wasn’t the best way. But I still love you too. I think we’re fine the way we are now.” She said, pushing the computer away, and sitting next to him.

“Yeah, but yesterday you said…”

“That was yesterday. I swear Dave, I’m fine. We wanted to test the water, and we did it. The water is cold and we will sink if we get into it.”

She kissed his cheek and rubbed his back for reassurance.

“I hate that. I feel like we make one step forward and two steps backward. That sucks. I suck. I should have never asked you to do this. I should have known what would happen. I’m sorry.”

“David, you’re not the only one responsible for this mess. I really wanted to do it too. But it’s probably not the best timing. We will do it eventually, but we have to be more prepared. Now we know how it works. We’ll be stronger next time, I swear.”

She’d always had been the only one capable of reassuring him. Usually, when he was pissed, he didn’t listen to anyone and remained focused on his anger. With her, he’d always managed to calm down, and her words worked on him.

“Okay. I do it, or you want to do it yourself?” he asked, still disappointed.

“I’ll do it. If you do it, you’re going to yell at the journalist and it’s not gonna help,” she smiled, running her hand through his hair.

“Okay. Try to be convincing, though.”

“Hey! I’m an actress. Lying is my job!” She said, flipping her blond hair nervously.

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my language, so please excuse my grammar, spell and syntaxes mistakes. I love every comments, good or bad!


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